Yankees honor Mandela during ceremony

N.Y. commemorates South African leader's 1990 visit with plaque

Associated Press

Updated 12:30 am, Thursday, April 17, 2014

Photo: Bill Kostroun

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New York Yankees' Derek Jeter, right, presents a photo of a Nelson Madela plaque to, from left, Lindo Mandela, Zondwa Mandela, Rachel Robinson and Sharon Robinson before Game 2 of an interleague baseball doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs, Wednesday, April 16, 2014, at Yankee Stadium in New York. Lindo is the wife of Zondwa, Zondwa is the grandson of Nelson, Rachel is the widow of baseball great Jackie Robinson and Sharon is the daughter of Rachel and Jackie. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun) ORG XMIT: NYY212 less

New York Yankees' Derek Jeter, right, presents a photo of a Nelson Madela plaque to, from left, Lindo Mandela, Zondwa Mandela, Rachel Robinson and Sharon Robinson before Game 2 of an interleague baseball ... more

The grandson of South Africa's first black president, Zondwa Mandela, and Robinson's widow, Rachel, helped unveil a plaque commemorating Mandela's 1990 speech at the old Yankee Stadium. It hangs next to the tribute to Jackie Robinson in Monument Park beyond center field at the current ballpark.

Robinson broke the color barrier in the major leagues in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The ceremony was pushed back a day to Wednesday because the game between New York and the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday — Jackie Robinson Day around baseball — was postponed by rain.

The plaque features a portrait of Mandela and a dedication.

"Able to fill the shoes of our grandfather. That is not why we are here. It's simply symbolic to the fact that we all make up a piece of his magnificent work. I and family, just like all of you who are here, are just a custodian of his legacy," Zondwa Mandela said before the ceremony.

"The efforts of the Robinson family, the efforts of our grandfather, should continue to give us a sense that the efforts of today are not supposed to reflect on our experience today," he continued, "but rather that they are for the lives to follow, the generations to come."

Yankee captain Derek Jeter presented the Mandela family and Rachel Robinson with a replica of the plaque at home plate prior to the game. More than a dozen notable figures, including members of the Mandela and Robinson family, South African government representatives, past and present politicians and labor leaders, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner, and singer and activist Harry Belafonte attended a pregame news conference.